The Devils (1971) Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed & Dudley Sutton Directed by Ken Russell Written by Ken Russell

THE DEVILS is set in Henry XIII era France (early 1600's I assume) during the time of the plague. A beloved priest (with a few well known skeletons in his closet) named Urbain Grandier has taken over governing duties of his fortified town of Ledoux after the death of the town's official governor, a town where Catholics and Protestants lived freely together, to the dismay of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Richelieu, with the backing of Henry XIII (played brilliantly, if not ambiguously by Graham Armitage) decides now is the time to take over the town, while they have no governor, to further unify church and state in France. When Baron De Laubardemont 's men show up to demolish the town by orders of the king, they are stopped by Grandier, who has official papers showing that he is to act as governor until a new one can be elected.

This really puts a thorn in the side of the Cardinal and a plan is concocted to 'out' Grandier. The lengths that they go to put a witch-hunt on Grandier is bulk of the film. First off, Grandier is not a perfect man. He is vain and a womanizer, but none the less, a true man of god - but an anti-hero for sure. To start off he impregnates a young girl, whose father is well-to-do in the town and arrogantly dismisses it (this really comes back to haunt him). He then falls in love with another woman named Madeleine and they wed in a secret ceremony - for nowhere in the bible does it state that a priest 'can not' marry. Now if being a fornicating priest that revels in his own celebrity wasn't bad enough, along comes Sister Jeanne, a hunch backed nun who is the Reverend Mother of the local monastery. She is obsessed with Grandier and lusts after him like no nun should lust for anybody, oh and she's totally nutzoid. She even fantasizes about Grandier being Christ himself.

Once Sister Jeanne finds out that Grandier has married, she really flips out and is so guilt stricken by her fantasies she claims she has been possessed by Grandier. Once the Baron finds out this news, he sends in a priest by the name of Father Barre (Michael Gothard in a standout performance), an exorcist whose evilness is shrouded by his man of the cloth image. He is a witch hunter that always gets his man. Though in this case, Grandier is set up as an incubus type demon, possessing poor nuns with thoughts of sexual lusts. Father Barre storms the convent and conducts a horrendous exorcism on Sister Jeanne (it makes Regan's exorcism in THE EXORCIST look like kids stuff). Enemas and ipecacs are forced on to the nun and her vomit and stools are searched for semen - all in front of a crowd of onlookers as well. Barre concludes that Sister Jeanne is in fact possessed by Grandier and convinces all the nuns to 'act' possessed by Grandier or face execution.

So now the convent is total bedlam as the nuns go crazy and act in every deviant manner that they wish (running around naked, grinding on everything in site, tearing up the bible, ect.), obviously over-enjoying their new freedom. The King is brought in to witness the madness and there is a brilliant scene (that I won't give away) between him and Barre that is priceless. After that is where much of the 'edited' footage has been restored which includes the 'raping of Christ' scene where the nuns takes down a huge statue of Christ and writhe on it like cats in heat. It's very sacrilegious, but not for exploitation sake, which is why I'd never put THE DEVILS in a nunsploitation category, though it does have some of the trappings.

****SPOILER ALERT****

Soon Grandier is put on trial, found guilty and put through excruciating tortures in order to get a confession, a confession that he is a demon. Of course, Grandier being a 'true man of god' would never confess which leads to an ending that will probably haunt me forever. Think the ending of BRAVEHEART - but worse. I've have watched THE DEVILS numerous times and the ending never fails to make me feel a deep sadness, along with strong anger. Though it is a hard thing to watch, because you do feel for the man, in fact most should relate to Grandier because he is something we all are, human.

Not only is Grandier condemned by law, but also by the town that loved him and that he tried to save. It then becomes ironically clear just who 'the devils' really are.

****END OF SPOILERS****

What makes THE DEVILS such an important film is that (unfortunately) the story is a timeless one. If you can't find parallels in the film to things that going on in the world today, you're blind. The combining of church and state and modern day witch-hunts are still an issue. Sure they are handled in a 'less primitive' way, but they still go on. Father Grandier is every person that considers themselves free, only to have that freedom crushed by a corrupt government for no reason but to fulfill their ruthless agendas and line their pockets with the wealth of the common man.

THE DEVILS is no doubt Russell's best film. The score is kind of scarce and only used when needed, but very original. Above all, the acting is top notch - how Reed and Redgrave didn't walk away with Oscars are beyond me, though Redgrave did get nominated for MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS that same year. In any case, THE DEVILS is most certainly the highlight of Oliver Reed's career. He acts his ass off as Father Grandier.

THE DEVILS is a classic!!